One boiler or two?

Steamhead (in transit)

One wants to put in a 175,000 BTUH boiler, the other wants a total of 250,000. I wouldn't trust either of these unless a heat-loss calc was done.

What make and model of boiler did they specify?

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Anne Schofield

One boiler or two?

Thanks for all your advice the other day. I have decided to replace the ancient boiler but now have a decision to make. One person wants to put in a 175,000 btu boiler. Another says it is more efficient to put in two 125,000 btu boilers. There are no zones in the house. Assuming it is not a question of price, which is better?

Long Beach Ed

Anne ---

I assume this is hot water heat and not steam.

Did either plumber do a detailed heat loss calculation? This would take about three hours and require the measuring of each room, the radiators and noting the type of construction and insulation. If not, don't waste your time with these people. They don't know what they are doing.

Long Beach Ed

grindog

heat loss is a must

You need a heat loss calc to determine what you need for a new boiler. Is your system hot water? What type of emmiters do you have this is also important to know when choosing a new boiler.

Rodney Summers

hot water and lp/nat gas

Get a condensing modulating boiler. It will adjust to the load demand. Much more efficent then getting one very large boiler, cheaper then two.

Tundra

I like the idea of two boilers. With the redundancy and incrreased efficiency it is a worthy idea. Was there a heat load calculation done? If it was and if it was around 175,000 BTU's then why not two 90 to 100,000 BTU boilers.